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NASA Marks Earth Day With Online Activities, Programs

This view of Earth comes from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard the Terra satellite. › Full image and caption

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., are celebrating the 41st anniversary of Earth Day this week with several online activities to engage the public in the agency's mission to use the vantage point of space to explore and protect our home planet.

Among the activities are two Web chats. On Thursday, April 21, JPL will host a pre-Earth Day Web video chat with a JPL scientist. Then on Earth Day, Friday, April 22, scientists involved in an airborne campaign in Greenland to monitor Arctic ice cover will participate in a second Web chat.

NASA maintains the world's largest contingent of dedicated Earth scientists and engineers to lead and assist other agencies in preserving the planet's environment.

For details on NASA Earth Day activities and new agency programs dedicated to expanding our knowledge of our home planet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/earthday .

Student Video Chat with a NASA Earth Scientist

Thursday, April 21 (10-10:30 a.m. PDT) -- The JPL Education Office is hosting a live Web video chat with JPL scientist Annmarie Eldering, who will answer questions submitted in advance by middle school students. Eldering is the deputy project scientist for NASA's upcoming Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 mission, which will measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The chat will be broadcast live at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2/ .

NASA Chat: Live from the Top of the World

Friday, April 22 (noon-1 p.m. PDT) -- A team of Arctic explorers is in Greenland keeping a careful eye on changes in the ice landscape. Chat online with NASA's Lora Koenig from Kangerlussuag, Greenland, and Tom Wagner from NASA Headquarters in Washington about the Operation IceBridge airborne mission. The chat window opens at 11:30 a.m. PDT for advance registration. The chat will be broadcast live at: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/live_from_greenland.html .

NASA Earth Day Video Contest 2011

Share your vision of what NASA's exploration of Earth means to you by creating a short YouTube video. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., announced on Wednesday a contest for the best video about discoveries or real-world benefits resulting from NASA's Earth science program. Producers are encouraged to draw from NASA's extensive collection of public domain Earth imagery. Submissions are due by May 27. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth-videos.html .

Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif., Wednesday-Friday, April 20-22 (3:30-4:30 p.m. PDT) -- Employees can tour the "Sustainability Base," a new facility that has re-purposed NASA technology designed for closed-loop systems in space. The project is a candidate for the platinum-plus rating by the internationally recognized LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building certification system. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/sustainability-base/index.html .

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.